Chelsea target Ousmane Dembélé has dropped a huge Barcelona transfer hint with a five-word message to a supporter whilst away on holiday.
The Blues are understood to be highly interested in the Frenchman as manager Thomas Tuchel looks to breathe new life into his Chelsea attack ahead of the 2022/23 season. If Romelu Lukaku is moved on amid Inter Milan loan talks, it is expected that Todd Boehly and his board will then nail down on incoming business.
It is already well known that French pair Jules Kounde and Dembele are two high-priority transfer targets that Tuchel has name-checked to the Blues hierarchy and despite initial optimism that a deal for both could be wrapped up quickly, it has gone slightly quiet on the pair.
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"Reinforcements are, of course, needed and in Jules Kounde and Ousmane Dembele it's clear Chelsea are looking at players in the market that are ready now but with room to grow and improve," Chief Chelsea correspondent for football.london Adam Newson reported in his latest Q&A segment.
football.london also understands that the Barcelona player will make his final decision after returning from his holiday. But as it currently stands, nothing has been agreed upon salary and contract-wise between the current World Champions and Dembele's agent Moussa Sissoko.
As Chelsea fans watch on anxiously for more developments in this ongoing transfer saga, every little hint dropped over this summer period will be micro-analysed by all wondering where the 24-year-old ends up for the 2022/23 campaign. Therefore, a clip that has surfaced on social media has proved intriguing. A Barcelona supporter who spotted Dembele on his holiday used the time in their short interaction to find out more about what's going on and his responses were quite significant.
He was asked all three of these questions in French: “Are you staying in Barcelona? Heard anything about Chelsea You do not want to work with Tuchel?"
His five-word total response to this set of questions doesn't make good reading for Tuchel, who is hoping to unlock and unleash Borussia Dortmund's form of Dembele in his frontline next term. "Yes, I’m fine in Barcelona," came Dembele's reply.
Now, this could all be just part of the games associated to transfer windows but if he is genuine in his word, the Blues may need to start considering alternative options, with both Christopher Nkunku and Raheem Sterling reportedly on the wish-list this summer. Although, the Barca No. 7's desire to remain put at the Camp Nou may not be possible despite the economic lever boost, as The Athletic have alluded to in their most recent update. Currently, they wouldn't be able to even register a new contract for the winger in question.
"A complicating factor is that, under La Liga’s rules, clubs who have broken their salary limits in previous seasons must devote the majority of any money raised to paying off existing liabilities," the report read. 'La Liga president Javier Tebas reminded everyone this week of his organisation’s rule of one-to-three for teams in this situation — “If Barca sell players for €100 million, they can spend €33 million on new players',” Tebas said.
Chelsea fans- Where do you want to see the club turn. next if Ousmane Dembele refuses to move to the Premier League? Leave your thoughts down below in the comments section!
